Introduction

Students develop skills in integrating and presenting information from different fields to understand global animal issues such as the role of animal products in human health, environmental impact of livestock production, trade in exotic animals, reasons for emerging animal diseases, and others. Writing, discussion and oral presentations are required.

Learning Objectives

Students will develop skills in investigating complex issues through innovative and critical use of available data sources and the scientific literature, and by synthesizing information of different types and from different sources.

Students will develop skills in expository writing and oral communication in discussion format.

Students will develop an appreciation of the complex global interactions between people and animals that occur through such activities as animal production, forest cutting, transportation, international trade, and encroachment on animal habitat.

Course Structure

This will be a seminar course that will meet once per week for 3 hours in a flexible environment that allows presentations, small-group discussion, and on-line research. Maximum class size is envisioned at 30.

Context of the Course

The course is planned principally as an elective for final year undergraduates in the Applied Biology Degree (animal stream) and for graduate students in the Animal Science graduate program. It provides a logical follow-on from the two existing third-year courses, APBI 314 (Animals and Society) and APBI 315 (Animal Welfare and the Ethics of Animal Use). The prerequisite for undergraduates is at least one of these two courses. The course may also attract students in Animal Biology, Forestry, Conservation, and other fields.

The course will also serve as a unique research-methods course, focusing on finding and synthesizing disparate types of information in order to answer complex questions, often as a basis for policy.

Instructor

David Fraser, Professor and NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare, has had a 39-year research career that has included laboratory, companion, wild, and farmed animals. He is engaged in international activities and policy issues related to animal health and welfare. He also supervises graduate students working on a wide range of animal species and problems that span applied biology, conservation and animal welfare.

COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction

Part 1. In the first half of the course, the weekly session will focus on an assigned question (one per week) such as the following:

Are animal-source foods good for human health?

How does the introduction of exotic animals affect local ecology?

Is logging detrimental or beneficial to forest wildlife ecosystems?

Why are there so many new zoonotic diseases?

Why has animal production become intensified?

Are confinement or free-range systems better for animal health and welfare?

Should we eradicate or vaccinate to control common diseases of farm animals?

The list of questions will be decided early in the term, partly on the basis of student interest.

The instructor will introduce the question, and students will identify (through discussion) the information needed to answer it. Students will then begin their research during class time, and they will pool resources in the final 30 minutes of the session. During the week, students will then write (individually) a 4-page essay describing their findings. These will be submitted the following week for marking and comments. Marks for the best five of these essays will constitute part of the final mark. Comments on the essays will help students develop expository writing skills, and will establish expectations for the term paper.

Part 2. In the final half of the course, students will use and demonstrate the skills they have developed by writing a term paper of 15 to 20 double-spaced pages, and giving an oral presentation. Each student will choose a different topic within the theme of animals and global issues. Sample topics include:

The global impact of oil spills

Sewage and aquatic animals

Is logging detrimental or beneficial to forest wildlife ecosystems?

Global animal production and greenhouse gasses

Grazing and desertification

Agrarian and industrial world-views in animal production

The humaneness of vertebrate pest control

International trade in exotic animals

The effect of roads on wildlife

Control of rabid dogs

Evaluation

Assessment will use written work and student presentations to assess the degree of achievement of the learning objectives, as follows:

1. Five of the 4-page weekly essays x 9 marks

45

2. Term paper

30

3. Oral presentation and leading discussion

15

4. Participation and attendance

10

Items 1 and 2 will be scored equally for (1) thoroughness of research, (2) quality of analysis and synthesis, and (3) clarity and quality of presentation. Full marks will require that students combine different sources of data and/or different fields of science in drawing their conclusions.